Description

Reel 1. A military training film supervised by an Officer appointed by the General Staff. B.112 Crown Copyright approved January 1957 C.1112. Produced for the Army Kinema Corporation by Associated British Pathe.

Aldershot, Hampshire. M/S of army marching band. Audience sit in outside stand watching the band. C/U of torso and hands of man in uniform handing out programmes for "Corps Week." Soldier hands programmes to members of the audience. The band marches, the audience applaud. M/S of members of the audience. A young member of the Royal Army Service Corps reads from the programme to an older man in uniform. Corps Week is a week of demonstration of their work and efficiency. Motorcycle riders demonstrate their skill in formation riding. They ride over ramps and through hoops of fire. Riders are then seen on a competition track riding difficult terrain. Men on horseback demonstrate their skills - jumping through hoops of fire. A man lies on his back with his feet in the air and a man on horseback jumps over him. Montage of sport events, short shots: a row of men in sports shirts and shorts strain on a rope ready for a "tug of war." They stand up and pull on the rope. A row of men do forward rolls in synchronisation. Men vault over a gym horse. A swimming race - men dive into a pool. Hurdles race - three competitors. Cricket. Football. Men in uniform on the sidelines cheer and wave their hats when a goal is scored. A "general service wagon" - a cart pulled by two horses. More modern methods of transport are shown. Camera pans across the following (and others): Combat Champ, Antar Tank Transporter, Amphibious Dukw, Ambulance, Troop Carriers etc. Cartoon of early army life. Row of sorry looking soldiers queuing up waiting to be paid. Cartoon of soldiers after having been paid - drunk. Hiring transport from local landowners. Still photographs of the earliest staff cars including a Wolsley (sp?) with Corporal Clement at the wheel. 1908 film of the demonstration of the first tracked vehicle ever made. This forerunner of the tank drives through a gateway and through a river. It pulls another tracked vehicle behind it. World War I montage. Famous poster of General Kitchener with legend "Your Country needs YOU" printed underneath him.

01:04:21 Marching band surrounded by a crowd, paper banner reading "Finsbury Rifles". Man making speech to very large crowd. Men in a steady flow walk up the steps of a recruiting office. Station platform - train full of soldiers is waved off. Soldiers with rifles over shoulders march past camera. Vehicles are unloaded from a ship on to the quayside. Top shot of unidentified unloaded cargoes on quayside. Horse and carts are loaded up with goods. Lorries driving up snowy roads. Voiceover - man describes his life in the Army Service Corps (ASC) Army vehicle drives into army camp. Transportation lorries - soldiers wave from the open topped vehicles. More upmarket staff cars. driving into French camp. Army transportation. Men marching into camp. "But we couldn't have done without the horses." Horses pull carts with goods and men inside. Marching men in overcoats and helmets. Goods are loaded and moved by soldiers. "Look at that lovely mud" - men on horseback walk through wet muddy fields. A trolley of shells is pushed and pulled up a muddy slope. Man at the front takes his hat off to the camera - the others smile. View from inside a trench as a gun is loaded with ammunition. Cannons are fired. Aerial ropeway in Italy used to transport goods. Archangel, Russia- reindeer used as transport. Shots of reindeer pulling sledges.

01:06:55 Camels used in Palestine to carry goods. Horse drawn ambulances with Red Cross flags flying. They are led by locals, soldiers walk alongside. Joke in narration about soldier being bit by a camel. Narrator describes how new pieces of machinery always being introduced. Top shot of a tank and other vehicles - voiceover speaks of how some of the best ASC men were taken away to form the tank corps. Line of Model T Fords drives away from the camera. Men sit in the back wave their hats. Large groups of soldiers in camp standing and sitting. Country at peace - corps reduced in size. Late 1910s - shots of London streets. Buses, cars, lorries. Moving shots of the streets of London. Close view of man driving a car. He leans out of the car window as he hears the air raid siren. 1939 - soldiers with packs on their back climb a gangway to board a boat. A motorcycle is lifted in the air , as is a car - presumably to be placed on boat. Soldier with life jacket around his neck hands out paperwork - or mail. Top shot of soldier looking at a letter.

01:08:48 Liner carrying soldiers leave port. They wave from the deck. Night shots of vehicles of the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC). Desert landscapes. Army vehicles drive along, tanks, trucks, etc. Vehicles on fire. First person voiceover says: "sometimes it was the vehicles we lost, sometimes it was our mates..." C/Us of burning vehicle. Night shots of cargoes being moved, barrels are rolled. Bare chested men carry a large basket of bread. Italy: cargoes are loaded from vehicle to vehicle. Top shot of supply vehicle. Petrol and forage for mules mentioned. Jeeps leave depots and drive across a bridge. Mules are used to transport goods where it is too steep for wheeled vehicles. Burma - a jeep and mules are taken across river by rafts. Motor boat. Mule jumps off raft into the river. Local people help to load and unload vehicles. A local man carries a trunk on his back. 1944 - Britain and her allies launch liberation of Europe. Montage of war footage. Battleships, guns firing, explosions - naval warfare. Montage of shots involving military vehicles and cargo transportation. 'DUKW' Amphibious vehicles transport from ships to beaches by members of the RASC Amphibian Control Point manned by two soldiers. Cargo is winched and then pushed along a roller belt - men working in silhouette. Preparing for the Rhine crossing. "The aim of the Corps has always been getting the right thing to the right place at the right time." Landing craft and launches loaded on to tank transporters. Top shots of the vehicles being moved. Large vehicle being driven through village street.
01:14:17 First person voiceover - Scottish accent - talks of his work in the R.A.S.C. working to keep army supplied with petrol and oil. Montage of shots of pipe lines, men turning release valves, joining pipes, women queuing to fill canisters with petrol. Women on an outside production line pushing the petrol canisters along a rolling conveyor belt. Soldiers move the canisters. Large rope basket used to winch them down and into small boat. "Dukws" - amphibious craft. Moving shot from the front of a Duck as it approaches the beach. Side view of the vehicle as it drives on to land. Air Despatch Companies of the RASC are featured. Men in white boiler suits walk close to small aircraft. Lorry with sign on the front: "Priority RASC Air Despatch." C/U of a pilot's face as he flies a plane. Voiceover speaks of how they have "more than proved their worth in Malaya." Shot of the plane flying over jungle area.

01:15:59 Views from the plane of trees below in Malaya. C/U of arms and legs of man as he prepares to push a box from the plane. C/U of RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) man speaking into radio. Box is pushed out and we see it drop from the plane. Parachute opens. Soldier on the ground with a rifle looks up. Two soldiers pull on the parachute which is stuck in a tree. Soldiers carry boxes on their shoulders. Box is opened. Bread is pulled out. Men queue to receive their supplies. Man handing out supplies seems to be greatly enjoying an apple. First man who walks past the camera is smiling broadly and carrying a magazine. The first three soldiers are black. C/U of a package of "Absorbent Gauze" being taken from a packing case. C/U of a bloody leg being bandaged. C/U of concentrated face of man applying the bandage. Injured man is given a drink of water from a canteen. Corps training. Men fire machine guns. First from a standing position, then lying down - the latter seen in C/U from behind. High shot of supply depot at Taunton. C/U of boxes packed with supplies. Fork lift trucks place stacks of boxes on trolleys which are then pulled by an engine.

Comments (2)

That was well worth watching. Thankyou. Les Medland. RASC. 1959-1965. I was on my Pre-release end of June/July 1965 when the RASC changed over to RCT, so I was still RASC when De-mobed in Bicester Oxon. on the 27th July 1965. Must have been one of the last in the RASC. Les Medland.